Back in February Staples presented Office Depot with a freshly sharpened bouquet of pencils (really, $6.3 billion) as a token of its desire to live as one for the rest of their office supply days. Now, three months later, Office Depot has accepted the proposal. [More]

Depending on your tax situation, the approach of Tax Day is either a paperwork-filled nightmare or a day to kick back and enjoy having filed and received your refund back in January. It doesn’t matter when you filed for the growing number of Tax Day discounts and freebies at stores and restaurants, though: here are a few that might keep you fed and relaxed today. [More]

A day after it was reported that Staples and Office Depot had entered into advanced talks about a merger, it appears one of the companies popped the big question. Staples will buy Office Depot for $6.3 billion in cash and stock in a deal to bring the No. 1 and No. 2 office supply chains together to do battle with big box stores and online retailers. [More]

For years, an increasing number of retailers have been pushing their “buy online, pickup in store” (BOPIS, for all you acronym lovers) option as a expedient option that offers the convenience of online shopping without the hassle of having to search the aisles. But is it really any faster than traditional bricks-and-mortar shopping? [More]

Just a few months after roundly mocking Olive Garden and then seizing seats on its board of directors, the activist investors at Starboard Value are reportedly hoping to arrange the marriage of office supply retailers Staples and Office Depot. [More]

JCPenney is apparently 11 hours less desperate for business than discount retailer Kmart, but 3 hours more desperate than it was last year. The department store chain announced today that it will open at 5 PM on Thanksgiving Day. Last year, it opened at 8 P.M. on the holiday. [More]

When you’re expecting a box of paper clips in the mail, there are some very tense moments where one must come face to face with the reality that those paper clips might arrive damaged, unable to clip pieces of paper to each other. Breathe easy, folks — ordering from Staples means those fragile metal clips will get from point A to point B safely, thanks to the help of a huge box and plenty of air pouches. Whew. [@DsladeNews on Twitter]

Do you have a slightly older computer that would work with slightly old anti-virus software? If so, stop by your nearest big-box store. The Raiders of the Lost Walmart, brave seekers of retail antiquities, have found large caches of ancient security programs for sale at big-box discount and office supply stores. [More]

Earlier this year, Staples announced plans to close 225 underperforming store due to poor performance. Almost six months later, the office supply retailer hasn’t managed to turn things around, mostly because consumers are looking elsewhere for most of the things they would buy at Staples. Especially electronics. Turning things around will be a difficult task, since the chain plans aggressive discounts to lure customers back in. [More]

Staples, the big-box office and school-supplies superstore, isn’t messing around. Sure, the school year hasn’t even ended for the summer in all places in the company’s home state of Massachusetts, but that doesn’t matter. Nope. Staples wants your back-to-school business, and will price-match anyone, even Amazon, to get it. [More]

What’s a postal worker to do when a company that isn’t the United States Postal Service starts offering USPS products and using its own employees to sell those services? Prepare to protest, which is what the American Postal Workers Union is going to do on Thursday at 50 Staples stores. [More]

In an earlier, more simpler time when color printing was costly (and when people still printed things out), many consumers and small businesses used Staples and other office supply stores to fulfill their printing and copying needs. Can they do the same for 3D printing? Staples is willing to find out by dipping its toe into the 3D-printed waters with a pair of in-store tests. [More]